Running Head: HOW TO FORMAT IN APA
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HOW TO FORMAT IN APA
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Abstract
An abstract is the summary of the paper. It is a brief and
concise description of the main ideas covered in the paper.
It should be 150-250 words in length, and should also
contain keywords at the bottom of the summary in italics.
How to Format in APA
Keywords: APA, Format, references, in-text citations
Your Name
Middlesex Community College
HOW TO FORMAT IN APA
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HOW TO FORMAT IN APA
How to Format in APA
Here is an example of the first page of an essay. The
title is at the top of the page, after the header. It is NOT all in
caps, underlined, bold or italicized. The text is double-spaced,
following right after the title.
In his work, Auer (1996) remarked upon how we try
to mirror our speech patterns to those in the groups with which
we want to identify (p. 4). This means that sometimes we wish
that we could be a member of a certain social group, and
language is one way to gain entry into such groups,
Another study found that some of the informants’
speech would shift towards what the informants thought the
References
Auer, P. (1996). Adolescent social structure. Language in
Society, 17(2), 4-47.
Cheshire, J. (1982). Variation in English dialect. A
Sociolinguistic study. Cambridge, United Kingdom:
Cambridge UP.
Linguistics research center. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.utexas/edu/centers.
Smith, P. (2003). Historical linguistics. Journal of
Sociolinguistic Patterns, 149. Retrieved from
http://www.researchgate.net/journal
Wegener, D. T., & Petty, R. E. (1994). Mood management
pronunciations of the interviewer would be (Cheshire, 1982,
across affective states. Journal of Personality and
p. 99). This was especially true of males, 18-24 years old.
Social Psychology, 66, 1034-1048.
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APA Formatting
Layout
 Everything should be double spaced, in Times New Roman and 12 pt, with
one-inch margins on all sides.
 In the header, insert a Running Head flush left (a shortened version of the title, all in caps) and the page
number flush right. These should appear on every page.
 Four major sections: Title page, Abstract, Body of Paper, References Page. Each begins on a new page
 The Title page must also include the words “Running Head:” in the header. Halfway down the page
should appear the Title, Your Name, and Your School, (no italics, bold or underline) centered on page.
 An Abstract is a concise summary of the key points in your paper, followed by Keywords, and should be
between 150-250 words in length. At the top of the page, the word Abstract is centered (no italics, bold or
underline)
 The Body of the paper begins with the title, centered at the top of the page (no italics, bold or underline)
 The Reference Page starts on a new page. It is a list of the source citations, in alphabetical order by the
first word (author’s last name or title). At the top of the page, the word References is centered (no italics,
bold or underline)
Incorporating Material from SourcesWhether using a direct quote or paraphrasing (putting the ideas, facts, statistics, etc in your own words), include
an in-text citation to avoid plagiarism. The in-text citation consists of:
 reference in parenthesis which includes name, year, page #, i.e., (Cheshire, 1982, p. 99).
 The reference in parenthesis comes after the cited material, usually at the end of the sentence (the period
follows the parenthesis).
 signal phrase which introduces and gives context to the information, and includes the name of the author
(or periodical or website) and the year, i.e., In his work, Auer (2007) remarked upon. . .
 if the author and year are named in the signal phrase, only the page # must be included in the parenthesis, ,
i.e., In his work, Auer (2007) remarked upon. . . (p. 4).
 What must be cited? In addition to quotes, any ideas, facts, or statistics that aren’t common knowledge
and originated from the source
 Use a new in-text citation for each new page (of the book or journal) referenced. This means there may be
several in-text citations for each paragraph.
 If a paragraph refers to information from only a single page, the citation can go at the end of it.
References
 All lines after the first line of each citation should be indented ½ inch from the left margin.
 Authors' names are inverted (last name first); give the last name and initials for all authors of a particular
work for up to and including seven authors. If the work has more than seven authors, list the first six
authors and then use ellipses after the sixth author's name. After the ellipses, list the last author's name of
the work.
 When referring to books, chapters, articles, or Web pages, capitalize only the first letter of the first word of
a title and subtitle, the first word after a colon or a dash in the title, and proper nouns.
 Italicize titles of longer works such as books and journals.
 Do not italicize, underline, or put quotes around the titles of shorter works such as journal articles or essays
in edited collections.
Lowell Writing Center: LC-406B, 978-656-3365
Bedford Writing Center: LIB 7A, 781-280-3727